Halogenated alkynols are used in a variety of applications. The most widely known and used is iodopropynyl alcohol. Iodopropynyl alcohol, also known as iodopropargyl alcohol and 3-iodo-2-propyn-1-ol, has been used in the production of a wide variety of anti-microbial and anti-fugal agents. The use of iodopropynyl alcohol in the production of these compounds is described in the prior art, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,109 to Buckman Laboratories International Inc., U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,541 to Consortium Fur Elektrochemische Industrie GmBH DE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,472 to Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd., U.S. Pat. Nos 5,209,930; 5,252,745; 5,354,862 and 5,385,902 to Rohm and Haas, U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,088 to Sumitomo, U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,466 to the Dow Chemical Co., U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,781 and 4,259,350 to Sankyo Co. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,773 to Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals.
The process for producing iodopropynyl alcohol described in the literature involves treating propynyl alcohol with iodine and potassium hydroxide in methanol. The crude product obtained is impure and must be recrystallized or distilled. Recrystallizing iodopropynyl alcohol is cumbersome due to the vesicant nature of the compound. The percent yield and purity of iodopropynyl alcohol produced by methods described in the prior art are extremely low, usually around 50%. Furthermore, it is extremely expensive to produce iodopropynyl alcohol using conventional methods and a number of environmentally hazardous wastes are produced. Thus, a method of producing halopropynyl alcohol, and in particular iodopropynyl alcohol, with a high yield and purity which is cost-effective and does not produce a significant number of environmentally hazardous waste products is currently not available.